Suzanne’s Story
Three years ago on New Year’s Eve my husband Kevin and I were celebrating in our favorite fashion, selecting charities from the Willamette Week Give!Guide and making donations. Kevin always does the in-depth research and excitedly clicked on North by Northeast’s homepage. We had never heard of this young organization, but Kevin was impressed right away. “These guys are great! They are serving our neighborhood through volunteers and community partnerships. Finally there is an option for people who find themselves slipping through the health coverage cracks.” We made our donation, not knowing the vital role that North by Northeast Community Health Center would play on our own street.
Even though we are located only five miles from downtown, we live on a “small town” street. We are a porch-sitting people who visit with neighbors, watch each other’s kids and dogs and rely on each other during good times and bad. Gloria, our next-door neighbor, is the royalty of porch-sitting on our street and has handed down this culture to the rest of us. She is a smiley woman who is quick to serve iced tea, give the children gifts and crack a joke. Gloria is the heart of our street.
Sadly, just as the economy dropped into a recession, Gloria was let go from her job. This smart, hard-working woman found herself in a place she never imagined – without health coverage. For Gloria, a diabetic, this issue was critical. She calculated how much her medicine costs and how much she would get with unemployment. It wasn’t enough. One day Gloria confided in me that she didn’t think she would be able to keep her home. How could this be? She had lived in her home for so many years and had nursed her husband through a long illness within its walls. She was our heart, how could we lose her?
Fortunately, Gloria found North by Northeast and, with their help, she was able to get the medication that she needed to in order to live. Gloria didn’t lose her home, but let me tell you, it was close. I wondered if the volunteers from the clinic realize how much their impact spreads into the community. It isn’t just about saving lives or improving health, although we know how valuable that is. Gloria and I have discovered that this service is integral to keeping us together and helping us keep our identity as a community.
Although I would love to say that Gloria has since found a job, she hasn’t, and she, like many, still struggles to make ends meet. She has become a strong advocate for the clinic and frequently refers friends and relatives. I remember when Gloria first told me about the clinic and had so much good to say about how they treated her. It took me a while to realize that she was going to the same clinic that Kevin and I had picked out from the Willamette Week Give!Guide. Wow, it wasn’t just a good webpage, it was REAL. The North by Northeast Community Health Center had directly impacted our lives. You see, without this clinic, Gloria would have lost her house and our street would have lost its heart.
- Suzanne Veadry Casaus